Planning a Disney trip is supposed to be magical. But for one family, the excitement of organising a dream holiday quickly turned into a moment of panic after they realised a costly mistake had been made — and it involved a mountain of gift cards that weren’t quite what they thought.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The family had been preparing for what was meant to be a huge Disneyland trip involving 16 people. It was the kind of holiday many families spend years planning: a festive getaway filled with rides, shows, and the unmistakable soundtrack of animatronic characters singing their way through ‘It’s a Small World.’
As most Disney fans already know, a trip to Disneyland can be expensive. Tickets, food, accommodation, and souvenirs add up quickly, especially when you’re travelling with a large group. In an effort to manage the costs, the family came up with a plan to spread out their spending by buying gift cards in advance.
It seemed like a sensible strategy. But things didn’t go quite as expected.
The story surfaced in a since-deleted TikTok video when Andie Coston explained what happened to her family during their Disney planning saga. According to Andie, the trip was originally supposed to happen in 2020, per PEOPLE.
However, like countless travel plans around the world, the pandemic that year forced the family to postpone their holiday.
Instead of cancelling the dream entirely, the group rescheduled. The new plan was to finally make the trip happen at Christmas in 2023, turning the long-delayed vacation into a festive family reunion.
To help budget for the adventure, Andie explained that her parents began buying what they believed were Disney gift cards that could be used for park tickets, meals, and other expenses during the trip.
Over time, they purchased a huge stack of them. By the time they were finished, the total came to around $10,000.
On the surface, everything looked fine. Each card appeared to be worth $100, and the family assumed they had effectively prepaid a major portion of their Disneyland experience.
Then came the moment they tried to add the cards to their Disney account. That’s when the mistake became clear.
Rather than being standard Disney gift cards that could be used inside the parks, the vouchers were actually for Disney+ — the company’s streaming service.
Instead of tickets, meals, or souvenirs, the family had unknowingly bought a decade-spanning supply of online entertainment.
In fact, when they did the maths, the stack of cards amounted to roughly 70 years’ worth of Disney+.
It was a shocking discovery, especially considering the family had been carefully planning their trip around those funds.
Thankfully, the story didn’t end in disaster.
In a follow-up video cited by PEOPLE, Andie revealed that the family reached out to Disney to explain what had happened. After hearing the situation, the company stepped in to help.
Disney agreed to convert the $10,000 worth of Disney+ vouchers into vouchers that could actually be used at the park.
With the problem solved, the family’s long-awaited trip was finally back on track.
After years of waiting and one very confusing pile of gift cards, the group ultimately made it to Disney for Christmas after all.
And most importantly, nobody was forced to spend the next 70 years watching Disney+ instead of visiting the park.
Featured image credit: Instagram/amatchmadeindisney
